Railway-rail-joint plate.



' No. 680,!96. Patented Aug. 6, I901. R. B. CHARLTON.

RAILWAY RAIL JCIINT PLATE. (Application filed Apr. 5, 1901.

WITNESSES: INVENTOR UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

RICHARD B. CHARLTON, OF MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN, ASSIGNOR TO THE CONTINUOUS RAIL JOINT OO. OF AMERICA, OF JERSEY.

RAI LWAY- RAI L-JOINT PLATE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 680,196, dated August 6, 1901.

Application filed April 5, 1901.

To allwhom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, RICHARD B. CHARLTON,

a citizen of the United States, residing at Milwaukee, in the county of Milwaukee and State of Wisconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railway-Rail-Joint Plates; and I do hereby declare the following to be afull, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to that class of railway-rail connections or fish-plates shown in my prior patents, Nos. 667,499, 667,500, and 667,501, issued February 5, 1901, the objects of the present invention being to secure the advantages of such an upright girder as is therein shown on the base member or toe member of the fish-plate without forming a downward projection from the base of the rail-joint to thus obtain better opportunity for tamping the tiesin constructing the track and to obviate the necessity for accurate spacing of the ties and to secure other advantages and results, some of which may be referred to hereinafter in connection with the description of the working parts.

The invention consistsin the improved railway-rail-joint plate and in the arrangements and combinations of parts of the same, all substantially as will be hereinafter set forth and finally embraced in the clauses of the claim.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, in which like letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in each of the several views, Figure l is an end view of a rail connection formed with plates of my improved construction in the simplest form. Figs. 2, 3, and 4: are similar views showing the present feature of invention applied to fish-plates in combination with other features shown in said prior patents above referred to. Fig. 5 shows its application to another form of fishplate, and Fig. 6 is a perspective View illustrating my invention.

In said drawings, a indicates the railway- Serial No. 54,465. (No model-l rails, and b b are two fish-plates applied one at either side of the rails, overlapping a joint and adapted to be pressed against the opposite sides of the rails by bolts 0, passed transversely through the rails and fish-plates, as is common. Each fish plate is formed of rolled metal, preferably steel, and elongated in form to lie longitudinally against the rail.

In detail each plate consists of an upright member d, adapted to bear at its upper and lower edges against the under side of the head of the rail and upper surface of the railbase, respectively. From the lower edge of the upright member (1 an oblique foot member 8 extends downwardly outward, and at the edge of said foot member is an inwardlyextending base member f, continuous with the foot member and turned thereunder to lie away from the same. From the line of junction of the foot member 6 and base mem- 7o ber f a toe member g extends outward in opposite direction from the base member and in the same plane therewith, said plane being substantially at right angles to the upright member 61 of the fish-plate.

The particular feature of my invention consists in providing in the toe member 9 a vertically-disposed girder 71, which is formed by bending or turning the toe member upwardly inward for a portion of its length, preferably such a middle portion as lies opposite the meeting rail ends. The portion of the toe member which is to form the girderi is turned up through an angle of ninety degrees to bring it into a perpendicular position or at right angles to the plane of the toe member, the ends of the girder portion remaining integrally connected to the toe member by webs L, which reinforce and strengthen the girder.

It will be understood that when the fish- 0 plates are applied to the meeting rail ends the upright member d stands parallel to the web of the rail, the foot member elies against the upper side of the base of the rail, the base member f beneath the rail, and the too 5 member g projects outward from the edge of the rail-base. In this position the upturned girder 2' by its edgewise position more effectually resists any springing or bending of the rail-joint at the transverse line of meet- I00 ing of the rail ends than would an entirely horizontal toe member, and the fish-plate is thereby greatly strengthened.

By turning the girder upward, so as to project above the toe member, a fish-plate is produced devoid of downward projections beneath the plane of the base member f, such as necessitates an accurate spacing of the ties in laying a track in order that the downward projections will come between two ties. Much time and labor are lost in so carefully dispos ing the ties in order that downward extension or girders, such as shown in my prior patents above referred to, may be accommodated, and even then it often happens that through some inaccuracy the fish-plate does not come into proper relative position to the ties, and a readjustment is necessary.

By my improved construction no special care is necessary in laying the ties, since the girder 11 projects upward above the plane of the base of the rail-joint. Furthermore, the upwardly and inwardly turned girder 't', which ordinarily is disposed between two ties, permits greater freedom of access to the space between said ties and beneath the rail-joint than does even an entirely flat or horizontal toe member, while a downwardly turned girder, on the contrary, more or less completely closes the space in which it lies between two ties. It is therefore apparent that my present construction not only facilitates tamping of the ties in laying the track, but will permit such tamping, while also presenting the advantages of a vertical girder on the toe member.

The upturned girder thus described may be formed on the toe member of a fish-plate having a downwardly-turned girderj on its base member, as shown in Fig. 2, or it may be utilized in fish-plates having corrugated base members f, as illustrated in Figs. 3, 4, 5, and 6. Fig. 5 also shows its use in a fish-plate which does not engage the head of the rail, and other forms still might be shown wherein my invention can be employed.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new is- 1. A rail-joint plate, constructed integrally of metal and having a horizontal or approximately horizontally disposed member with an upright girder intermediate of the ends of said member and formed of a marginal portion of said member turned or bent upward from the laterally-extending foot member, an under inwardly-extending base member, a toe mom- I ber projecting laterally from the foot and base membersin the plane of the base member, and a girder medially of the length of the plate formed of a marginal portion of the toe member but upward from the plane of the base member.

4. In a rail-joint, an integral plate having a laterally-extending foot member and an under inwardly-extending base member, said parts being adapted to embrace the edge of the base of a rail, a toe member extending laterally from the junction of said foot and base members, and two girders medially of the length of theplate and in the same transverse line, one being formed of a downturned portion of the inner edge of the base member and the other of an upturned portion of the outer edge of the toe member, whereby access to the under side of the plate is provided at the toe member. 1 I 5. A rail-joint plate constructed integrally of metal, having an upright member, a laterally-extending foot member, an inwardly-extending base member beneath said foot member, a corrugated or ribbed toe member proj ecting laterally from the j unction of said foot and base members, and a girder intermediate of the ends of the plate and formed by upturning a marginal portion of said corrugated toe member.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand this 28th day of March, 1901.

RICHARD B. CHARLTON.

WVitnesses:

M. E. CHRISTENSEN, HUGH P. KAYE, Jr. 

